Last Post for band bombing survivor

THE funeral of the last survivor of an infamous Second World War bombing involving the Coldstream Guards band took place in Oldham yesterday.

Douglas Drake’s coffin was draped in the regimental flag and former soldiers and bandsmen were present at his funeral at St John the Baptist Church, Stamford Road, Lees.

The retired sergeant major died in hospital on November 7 at the age of 92. He was the last survivor of an explosion on June 18, 1944, when more than 120 people were killed in the chapel at Wellington Barracks in London.

He was performing in the Band of the Coldstream Guards when a German flying bomb struck.

Those killed included the director of music and five musicians. Mr Drake lost several of his friends and was badly wounded, suffering fractures to his skull, vertebrae and neck.

The veteran joined the Army in 1935 aged 17 and served until his retirement in 1975, with most of his service in the band where he became Sergeant Major.

His family has a proud military history with ancestors traced back as far as the army of the Duke of Marlborough in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 and involved in several historic battles including the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854 and Waterloo in 1815. Mr Drake’s father was a cavalryman in the Royal Dragoon Guards in the First World War and other relatives have served in the Navy.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards, formed in May 1785, is one of the oldest and best known bands in the British Army.

Mr Drake, originally from Liverpool but settled in Springhead, leaves his wife Margaret, son David and a grandson.